Filibusters: 10 things you need to know about them

Sen. Harry P. Cain (R-Wash.), who says he has enough material for a 17-hour speech, rehearses the speech he has prepared for Senate floor delivery in opposition to the nomination of Mon Wallgren, former Washington governor, to be chairman of the National Resources Security Board, March 8, 1949, in Washington, D.C. Cain rehearses with security organization charts in the background. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)

The filibuster and 10 things to know about it

In 1806, the Senate eliminated any mechanism to end debate

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The modern filibuster is Woodrow Wilson’s fault

Politico

Before 1917, the Senate could debate endlessly on any topic or bill — a natural filibuster that meant a vote could be delayed conceivably forever. Then President Woodrow Wilson suggested a two-thirds vote rule to shut down a filibuster, in part because of a shipping bill that was being held up, about which he said: ”A little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have rendered the great government of the United States helpless and contemptible.”

The Treaty of Versailles to end World War I was its first test

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A two-thirds vote ended debate in 1919 and brought the treaty to a vote, where it was ratified.

Filibuster rules about continual speaking made it ’democracy’s finest show’

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-Filibusterresearchdevelop

Strom Thurmond holds the record for filibustering for more than 24 hours

Newsday

In a failed attempt to block the Civil Rights Act.

The rule has broken some men

Mike Gravel Filibustering in the 70sDan Connor

Speaking isn’t required for a filibuster anymore, but people sometimes do it anyway

Sanders Filibuster Begins…SenatorSanders

And it’s still used as a dramatic device in Hollywood

The Rules for a Filibustertink012960

Little used for most of the republic’s history, filibustering has skyrocketed